I used to regularly buy from chain reaction prior to the takeover. Since then however I have noticed a big drop off in availability and pricing & now I rarely even bother looking at their website. Sadly I suspect bike24 will go the same way

Ross, would be good if you included at least a quote from the original source in your post for some context.

The letter from the worker/whistleblower does share a staff view following the changes although doesn't put the business or their viability in doubt. The location changes were fairly publicly documented and meant a scaling down in the original location and scaling up with their 'partner' Wiggle. Though both share inventory, their are still presenting individually which is still a smart approach.

When companies expand, particularly those which are founded by a family and have a close knit staff and strong community integration - there are often casualties - this that is not satisfying and not necessarily an excuse. Management have to be cautious with regard to rumours because their intention is to manage the internal and external publicity - so the issue was not taking the right approach with the staff information when the initial story broke and subsequent changes... generally transparency and communication problem.

I think Bike24 is fairly independent in many ways, I wouldn't be concerned.

AUbicycles wrote:Ross, would be good if you included at least a quote from the original source in your post for some context.

The letter from the worker/whistleblower does share a staff view following the changes although doesn't put the business or their viability in doubt. The location changes were fairly publicly documented and meant a scaling down in the original location and scaling up with their 'partner' Wiggle. Though both share inventory, their are still presenting individually which is still a smart approach.

When companies expand, particularly those which are founded by a family and have a close knit staff and strong community integration - there are often casualties - this that is not satisfying and not necessarily an excuse. Management have to be cautious with regard to rumours because their intention is to manage the internal and external publicity - so the issue was not taking the right approach with the staff information when the initial story broke and subsequent changes... generally transparency and communication problem.

I think Bike24 is fairly independent in many ways, I wouldn't be concerned.

Would echo this, very much so actually.Speculation within environments such as this (forums) can develop a momentum of its own. And I would further point out that none of us are 'in the room'.Having been an external consultant within various apparently similar contexts, it's hard to know the truth, if ever. One such context I was involved in approximately 14 years ago involved Director fraud of a Telco carrier by a reseller, exploiting the 'cost-to-manage' nature of the relationship (so subscribers never became ex-subscribers, they just floated in the ether) in addition to other issues. I found it, reported it to the parent Co (who had engaged me) with documented evidence, and a chain of retail outlets closed the following Monday, although there were other issues which led to my being engaged in the first place. Point being, staff and middle management are often the last to know of any issues, and sometimes never know.It's hard to know the reality, with alternate scenarios being possible, including Wiggle perhaps trying to rationalize the CRC operation in order to make it more viable, or to bring it into line with the Wiggle model. Maybe CRC was struggling before the 'merger', and this is the fallout. Maybe CRC performance had fallen off since or because of the merger, we may never know.

That being said, whilst they appear to be maintaining the brands as separate entities (although we all know differently) there's absolutely no point in maintaining two of everything (warehouses, customer service, finance) when the end result can be maintained just by running two websites and two phone numbers (both feeding into the same call centre). Think we'll see further change, and maybe even see the end of the CRC brand eventually, before it all returns to some sort of balance.

From another perspective, this may provide an opening for locals like BikeBug, Cyclingdeal, BicyclesOnline and Pushys to step in and pinch some market share from Wiggle.

Oh and forgot to mention, for a business that generates over 40% of its revenue from external, non-UK sales, being based in Wolverhampton or Mallusk makes no real difference. Having two though, makes no sense. One needs to go, and I imagine the Watsons don't feel like driving to N.Ireland.

AUbicycles wrote:Ross, would be good if you included at least a quote from the original source in your post for some context.

I was in a bit of a rush to get ready to go for a ride and happened to see the article while I was supposed to be getting ready and so quickly posted a link. I didn't think it would be very hard for people to read the heading and then click on the link and read the story for more information...

All I can say is that as a contributor to their Q&A community I have found several of their staff members (one in particular) to be quite clueless, frequently offering plainly wrong information. Which isn't a good reflection on the company as a whole, as you would expect any business to actually know their products.

That is an interesting obervation, I don’t have experience eitherway but have still considered what it takes for a real expert to move into an online customer service role. The staff knowledge is generally reliant on an existing passion (outside of work) and without the in-work hands-on practical experience.

One thing I saw in a different segment is an individual consultant manages a customer, the same staff member follows an entire issue or process and the customer can also rate them so the staff also needs to go for quality and not just fast sales.

AUbicycles wrote:When companies expand, particularly those which are founded by a family and have a close knit staff and strong community integration - there are often casualties - this that is not satisfying and not necessarily an excuse.

This is not about expansion... when a company buys out a competitor, it never - and I mean never - does so in the best interests of the competitor.

Duck! wrote:All I can say is that as a contributor to their Q&A community I have found several of their staff members (one in particular) to be quite clueless, frequently offering plainly wrong information. Which isn't a good reflection on the company as a whole, as you would expect any business to actually know their products.

I haven't had much (any) experience in dealing with their customer service people but are you sure you aren't setting the bar too high as you have obviously extensive bike product experience and knowledge and therefore expect the same back? Genuine question, not trying to troll.

No, it's not some of the more obscure things like extended compatibilities that component manufacturers don't acknowledge, there is stuff that is just fundamentally wrong. For example a question might be asked if a 9-sp. shifter can be used in a 8-sp. system (a flat "no") but this particular staff member will often suggest it can be used, just tweak the derailleur limits to iron out the last shift!

AUbicycles wrote:When companies expand, particularly those which are founded by a family and have a close knit staff and strong community integration - there are often casualties - this that is not satisfying and not necessarily an excuse.

This is not about expansion... when a company buys out a competitor, it never - and I mean never - does so in the best interests of the competitor.

+1.Buy out is a means of removing something/someone which is bothering you, and also taking what they have (market share, customer base, branding). Wiggle were obviously losing market share or consumer affiliation to CRC while CRC were growing a brand presence. Simple solution, buy it. So now Wiggle have both customer bases and the combined market share, with some expected attrition. Now they're rationalizing the operation, as expected, and people are getting upset (can't understand how the staff didn't see this coming, of course they don't need two of everything).

Publically it was being called a merger rather than a buy out but sure, the management objectives of growth and profit are priorities while company culture is a bonus.

Leading staff on and getting the most out of them for as long as possible is unfortunately pretty standard practice. Some staff will jump ship early while others accept the internal communication or tolerate the job.

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